Carton-forming machine



Feb. 19, 1929.

S. R. HOWARD CARTON FORMING MACHINE 6 Sheet- Sheet l Filed May 9, 1927 Ell/71 @AWM Feb. 19, 1929. 1,702,651

s. R. HOWARD CARTON FORMING MACHINE Filed May 9, 1927 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 l i l 1K2 /06 ira l l Feb. 19, 1929. 1,792,651

s. R. HOWARD CARTON FORMING 'MACHINE Wma?, 1 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 Feb. 19, 1929. y 1,702,651

s. R. HOWARD CARTON FORMING MACHINE Filed Ma 9, 1927 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 1721/4 y jizz/610507" Feb. 19, 1929. 1,702,651

s. R. HOWARD CARTON FORMING MACHINE 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Feb. 19, 1929. 1,702,651

s. R. HOWARD CARTON FORMING MACHINE Filed'v May 9, 1927 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 Paieied Feb. 19, 1929.

UNITED STA-TES STANLEY R. HOWARD, OF EAST MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOB TO:

PN EUMATIC SCALE CORPORATION, LIMITED, OF QUINCY, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

Application led v May 9.

'lhis invention relates to a carton forming machine.

One object of the invention is to provide a novel carton forming machine byv which cartons may be formed in a superion, automatic, and economical manner.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel automatic'rnachine for forming bottom sealed cartons from carton blanks, which is particularly useful in the packaging of goods by automatic machine.

With these object-s' in view, the invention consists in the carton forming machine, and

in the various structures, arrangements and combinations of parts hereinafter described and'claimed.

In the drawings illustrating the preferred embodiment of the invention, Figure 1 is a side elevation of the improved arton forming machine; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the parts shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the carton feeding, folding and side sealing mechanism comprising a part of the present machine; Fig. 4 is a vertical, longitudinalsection through a portion of the mechanism shown in Fig. ltaken on line 4-4 of Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a' partial side. elevation o1 the blank feeding andthe side sealing mechanism viewed from the side of the machine opposite that shown in Fig. 1; Figs. 6 and 7 are diagrammatic details illustrating the manner of opening the partially formed carton and of transferring it to a part of the mechanism for sealing the bottom flaps of the carton; Fig. 8 is a detail to be referred to; and Figs. 9,1()'and 11 are diagrammatic views illustrating the operation of the folding and side sealing mechanism.

In general in the present carton. forming machine provision is made for folding carton blanks and for sealing the sideseams of the blanks as they a'refolded to form the so-called knock down cartons, comprising the flattened tubular body portion having top and bottom flaps pioJecting therefrom. After the carton blanks have been formed into the knock down cartons, provision ismade for opening the'- knock down cartons and for delivering them to mechanism for sealing the end flaps thereof. In the preferred embodiment of the invention the carton blanks are automatically fed from a bulk supply, to the .folding and side sealing mechanism and the various mechanisms in the machine operate CARTON-romains MACHINE.,

1927. Serial No. 189,884.

in timed relation to one another whereby during the operation of the machine successive bottom sealed cartons are formed directly from the flat carton blanks.v

Referring now to the drawings, the illustrated carton forming machine is designed to operate upon carton blanks` of the usual shape shown in Fig. 9. Each blank 12 is creased alone' the usual fold lines forming panels of which the panels 14 and 20 and the panels 16 and 18 respectively form the opposite sides of the carton. The panel 18 is provided with the usual sealing lap 30, and all of the panels 14, 16, 18, 20 are provided with bottom and top flaps 32, 34, 36 and 38, and 42, 44, 46 and48 respectively.

In the illustrated machine, provision is =made for lstoring the carton blanks in bulk and for automatically delivering successive cartonblanks one at a time to a position to be operated upon by the folding and side sealing -mechanisms As illustrated in Figs.. 1 and 2,

the flat carton blanks 12 are stacked in elevator mechanism indicated generally at 58 and comprising conveyor chains 56runnin over lower sprockets 60 onl shafts 62 an over 'upper sprockets 64 on shafts 66, the shafts 66 comprising the driving shafts as .will be described. The conveyor chains 56 are provided with shelves 54 upon which the cartons are stacked and which, as the chains are elevated lift the cartons to maintain the uppermost carton in the stack in a position from which it may be withdrawn and fed to the side sefing and folding mechanisms, as will be described.

Provision is preferably made for automatically actuating the elevator mechanism to lift the stack of carton blanks and to maintain the uppermost carton blank in aposition to be operated upon by the mechanism for transferring it to the side sealing and `folding mechanism. For this purpose a feeler finger 7 8 is mounted in position to normally engage the uppermost blank in the stack when the blank is in a position ready to be withdrawn from the stack, andwprovisionis made for initiating the elevator driving mechanism each time that theA feeler finger 7 Sdrops onto the next lower carton blank in the stack following the withdrawal of the uppermost carton from the stack. For this purpose the upper shafts 66 (comprising the driving shafts for the conveyor chains 56) are provided with worm wheels 68 secured thereto andwlth which cooperateworms 70 secured .to a shaft 72 journalled in fixed bearings 74.

The shaft\72 is provided with a ratchet wheel, 76 with which cooperatesa pawl 84 pivotedf upon a pawl arin\82 secured in a sleeve 80, itself rotatably mounterliipon the shaft 82. rIhe feeler finger 78is alsdsecured upon the `sleeve180 so that when the feeler linger drops after the uppermost carton blank has been 'withdrawn from the stack, the pawl is reset l running over a sprocket 96 on the shaft 88 and lwhich chain 94 is driven as will be described in. timed relation to the mechanism for sealing the bottom flaps ofthe cartons. In the operation of the mechanism thus de scribed, when the feeler finger drops, reset,

, ting the pawl with relation to its ratchet, the

cam arm 86 moves radially downwardly on the cam shaft 58 and brings a cam roll 100 pivotally secured to said cam arm into the path of an abutment formed ona cam 102 secured to the shaft 88, and as the'carn 102 revolves the engagement of the abutment 103 with said cam roll 100 raises the cam arm 86 and consequently rocksthe pa wl arm 82 and pawl 84 in a counter clockwise direction, as

- seen in Fig. 1, thus turning the ratchet wheel 76 in the same direction, and through the worm 70 and worm wheels 68 turning the shafts 66 in a direction to raise the elevator ehains'56 and to bring the neXt uppermost carton blank into desired yposition froml which it may be withdrawn from the stack. .f

In the illustrated machine the individual blanks are succeshively transferred from the l top ofthe stack in the elevator 58 by a pair of suction transfer members 104, 106, and are depos1ted`by said transfer members on a vpair of constantly driven parallel feed belts 108,

` 110. The transfer members 104, 106 preferably comprise hollow members provided on their forward endswith suction c11psf112, 114. The hollow members 104, 106 are preferably connected toa suitable source of suction (not shown) whereby afterthe'suctionl cups` 112, 114'1contact with the surface of the uppermost blank in the stack the suction retains the blank in suchposition and ermits the transfer members 104, 106 to liflf the blank from .the stack and feed it forwardly to deposit 1t upon the feed belts 108, 110. l

An oscillating movement is imparted to thel transfer members`104, 106 to effect the with'- drawal of the uppermost blank from the s stack and for depositing it upon the belts 108, 110, and as herein shown the transfer lframe of the machine.

members 104, 106`are pivoted to the lower .a cam 130 upon the shaft 88, through suitable linkage connectionsincluding an arm 120 secured to the shaft 118 and pivoted at its other end to one end of a link 122. The link 122 is pivotally secured to one arm of a bell crank cam lever 124 pivotedat 126 to the The other arm of the bell crank lever 124 is provided with a pivoted cam roll 128 which cooperates with a cam path formed in the cam 130. 't

' In order to control the vertical position 0f the suction cups 112, 114 of the transfer members during the vabove described horizontal movement thereof, the transfer members 104', 106 have pivotallyv secured to their rear ends links 186 connected to arms 132 secured upon a rock shaft 134. The rockI shaft 134 is rocked by a cam 148 through linkage connections including an arm 138, a link 140 connected to one a'rm of a bell crank lever 142, pivoted a't 144 to the machine frame, and having the other arm lof the bell crank lever 142 provided with a cam roll 146 which coopervates with a cam groove in the cam 148. The cam 148 is secured to the cam 88 and is of suchdesign that through the connections described the vertical position of the suction cups 112, 114 are controlled to enable thel blank to be Withdrawnfroin the stack and de posited upon the feed b`eltis'108,'110.'

fio

Provision is. made` foi-,positively feeding.

the blank after. it has been thus'dep'osited upon\the feed'belts 108, 1.10 in order to overcome the grip of vthe vsuction cups112, -114 .upon the vblank and to thereby permit the i es transfer members to bereturned toa'position fto engage thefnext succeeding blank in the` stack, and for-this purpose 'pivotallymounted idler feed 'rolls"`168, 17 0 and 17 2 aredropped down to enga'v e the upper'surface of .the

blank and to t ereby cooperate with driven I feed rolls 162, 164, and`16'6 to feed the blank forwardly overcoming the gripping of the suction cups upon the blank. .The feed rolls 162, v164, 166,...are secured upon a shaft 160 and the latter is driven by pulleys 156 and 158 upon the shaft and over which the feed belts 108, run. The feed belts 108,110 also run over pulleys 1,50, 152 mounted upon a constantly driven shaft 154,] The idler feed rolls 168,170 and172 are pivotally secured on the forward ends of arms 174 pivoted upon a rock shaft 176. The rock shaft 176 has securediy to 1t arms 178 which normallyy engage the lewer surfaces of abutments 180 formed on the arms 174.- The idler feed rolls 168,

y and 172 are raised and lowered at the desired times by a cam 132 secured to the conblank, provision is made for applying glue connections including an arm 182 secured to one end of the rock shaft 176, a link 184 connected to a cam lever 186 pivoted at 188 on the machine frame, and having a cam roll 190 engaging a cam groove in the cam 132.

Aft/er the idler feed rolls have been lowered onto the driven feed rolls, the blank is .fed forwardly, first by both the feed rolls and the moving belts 108 and 110 and then by the belts alone after 'the rear end of the blank passes through the feed rolls. During this forward movi'nent the'blank is` positioned over fixed folding members 192 and 194 located within and parallel to the feed belts 108 and 110 and the forward movement of the blank is stopped by the engagement of the forward end of said blank with upwardly projecting 'stop fingers 196 and 198 formed on the forward ends 0f the folding members 192 and 194.

During the forward movement of the or other adhesive to the lower surface of the side sealing tab 30 of the blank. To this end,

as the blank fed forwardly, the lower surface of the tab 30 engages a glue roll 200 arranged to engage a constantly driven transfer` roll 202 operating in a glue gtank 204, the

transfer roll thus operating to drive the glue roll and to coat its surface with glue, which the glue roll, in turn, transfers to the bottom surface of the tab 30, as indicated at 52 in I Figs. 9, 10 'and 11.

Provision is made for folding theeouter slde members 18 and 20 ofthe blank upwardly at right angles lto the remaining prft'ion of the blank after the blank has been brought to rest by the engagement of its forward end with the stop members 196 and 198.- For this purpose as herein shown, fixed fold ing members 192 and 194 are located in a position vsuch that when the blank is fed into position over them they are beneath the inner at right angles to the side members 14 and 16 at the creases 22 and 26, asindicated in Fig. 10. Durlng its downward movement, the blank lis guided between vertical guide plates 208 and 210 secured to the fixed folding members 192 and 194 and comes to rest on a. fixed table 212, (Fig. 4).

In order to impart the desired movement to the folding late 206, it' is: secured to one end/of a curve arm 214secured at' its other end to a rock shaft 216 jOurna-lled inrbearings 218. An arm 220 is also secured at one end to the rock shaft 216 and'has pivotally secured to its other end it link 222, the other end of which is pivot-ally secured to onearm of a bell crank cam lever 224 pivoted at 226 to the machine frame. A cam roll 228 secured to the second arm of the bell crank cam lever Aengages la cam path formed in the cam 148 secured to the shaft 88. It may be seen from an inspection of Figs. 3 and 5 that the arm 220-and the `bell crank cam lever 224 oscillate in lmutually perpendicular planes. The link 222 connecting these members is provided on its opposite ends with universal j oints 230 to permit it to accommodate itself to the different positions of these members.

After the blank having the members 18, 20 .folded` up at right angles to the, remainder of the blank, comes to rest on the table 212, provision is made for folding the members 18, 20 inwardly through another angle of 90 until they are folded down on the remainder of the'blank. For thispurpose, folding rolls I232 and 234 journalled in t-he inner ends of slides 236 and 238 slidably mounted in guideways 240 and 242 secured to the table 212 are arranged to be moved inwardly to engage the side members 18 and 20 and fold them down in the manner desired, The mechanism for effecting such movement of the `rolls includes cam levers 244 and 246, provided with forked upper ends arranged to engage pins 248 and '.250 secured to the slides 236 and 238, and

which are pivoted at 252'and 254, respectively, to fixed brackets256 and 258. The

'cam levers 24 246 are ostillated by cam rolls 260 and 262 securedlto the lower ends thereof,

which are arranged to yiedingly engage cam paths formed in cylindrical cams 264 and 266 secured to the constantly rotating shaft 88.

- Irrorder that the outer portionvof the side member 20 may-be secured to the flap 30, the cam grooves in the ca ms 264 and 2 66are so shaped that the roll 232 engages the side member 18 to fold it downwardly before the side member 20 is f0lded down by the roll 234. Consequently, the outer portion of the side member 2O is folded down onto the glued surface 52 of the tab`30 and pressed against y.

said glued surface to be firmly afiixed thereto by the roll 234, and the blank is thus formed into a tubular knockdown carton.

After the carton blank has thu-s. been formed into a knockdown carto provision is made for opening it and presenting the open carton to mechanism for sealing thebot'- tom flaps of the carton. The latter mechanism is indicated generally at 267 and the details of construction and operationexcept .as

hereinafter pointed out, may and preferably will comprise the bottom sealing mechanism illustrated and described in the UnitedStates patents to S. R. HowardNd 1,342,047, June 1, 1920, and W. S. Scales No. 7 67,445, August 16,1904. A sufficient portion of such bottom sealing mechanism has been herein shown to enable the present invention lto be clearly understood, but inasmuch as the details of such bottom sealing mechanism of itself form no part of the present invention, reference is made to said U. S. Patents Nos. 1,342,047 and- 7 67 ,445 for a more complete description and illustration thereof.

Referring nour particularly to Fig. 4, as

fiat carton blank has been formed into the knockdown carton,` the bottom flaps project beyond the table 212 and are positioned over the feed roll 268, and at this time upper feed rolls 272 are swung downwardly from the full line position to the dotted line position, shown in Fig. 4, to engage the knockdown carton between the rolls 272 and 268 and l feed it forwardly.

As the feed rolls 268 and 272 feed the knockdown carton forwardly, it passesover and around a feed drum 302 secured to a /constantlydriven shaft 304, bfeing guided around said drum by fixed guide members 306 and fed by feed rolls 308 and 310 cooperating with said drum. The feed rolls 308, 'and 310 are pivotally secured to arms 312 and 314 pivotally mounted on a fixed shaft 316, and springs 318 extended between each pair of arms 312 and 31.4 urge said arms inwardly against the drum 302 thus engaging the carton between said rolls 308 and 310 and the drum 302 and feeding it forwardly and downwardly between the drum and the guide members 306, and then downwardly between the guide members 306 and guide members 320, the latter being located beneath the forward edge of the drum 302 in the rear ofthe lower portion of the guide members 306. After passing downwardly between the guide members 306 and 320, the carton drops into a pocket 322 andl comes to rest therein with its bottom portion resting on adjustable supports 324 (Figs. 3 and 4) located below said pocket. The carton is guided into the pocket 322 in the position indicated in dotted lines f at 326 in Figs. 3 and-6, .by the engagement of its edges with recesses 328 and 330 formed at the sides of said pocket.

The mechanism for swinging the rolls 272 into and out of engagement with the feed rolls 268 inclu es a rock shaft 276 upon which are mounted arms 274. The rolls 272 are secured to'one end of the Iar1fns'274. The arms 274 are i arranged to have limited rotative movement with relation to the rockshaft, and

' for this purpose keys 278 secured in the shaft 276 extend into recesses 280 formed in the hubs of the arms 27 4. Arms 282 are secured at one end to the rock shaft 27 6 adjacent the arms 274 and springs 284 taking between spring seats 286 formed at the other endsof the arms 282 and seats 288 formed-on the arms 274, normally hold the keys 278 against the end of the recesses 280 but permit the arms 274 to yield when the rolls 272 engage the rolls 268. The rockshaft 276 is arranged to be rocked bya cam 300 upon the shaft 88, through linkage connections including an arm 290 (Fig. 5)' secured to the rock shaft, a link 292, bell crank cam lever 294 pivoted at 296 on the machine frame; and having a cam roll 298 which cooperates with a cam path formed on the cam 300.

After the knockdown carton reaches the described position in the pocket 322, provi- -sion is made for opening it and for' presenting the opened carton to the bottom sealing mechanism. The latter mechanism includes a device for operatively supporting the ing operations are being performed, and as shown in Figs. l, 2, 6 and 7, such device comprises the carton holding pocket 332 and the block 333, the latter being one of the usual four intermittently rotated blocks of the Scales and Howard patents above referred to, and upon which the carton is placed after having been received in the pocket 332. In Fig. 8 a modified form of carton receiving opened carton while the flap closing and-sealf pocket 335 is shown, which is designed to opi be moved upwardly and inserted between the bottom flaps of the knockdown carton and then up into the interior of the same. Provision is `then made for moving the knife forwardly to transfer the carton to the pocket 332-of the bottom sealer, and the knife is then moved first downwardly' to be withdrawn vfrom the carton and then rearwardly to its .starting position. During this forward move- -ment the carton is opened, as will be described, by the cooperation of the knife'niovement `and the walls of the pocket 322 with the carton.

The mechanism forl operating thevknife 334 is arranged to cause theinsertion of the knife into the knockdown carton in a manner such that theknife is positioned in the rear of the crease 28 vbetween the tab 30 and the side member 18 of the carton in the position indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 6. It may be seen from an inspection of Figs. 2 and 9 that the bottom flaps 34 and 38-of the carton are shorter than the remaining pair of bottom flaps 32 and 36. The flaps 32 and 36 serve to engage the rods 324 to support the carton in the pocket 322, and in such position, as shown in Fig. 4, the upper end of the knife, as thclatter moves rearwardly, will' pass under ,the flap 38 and engage the inside of the flap 36 so that when the knife is moved upwardly it is caused to enter the carton'between the fiaps 36 and 38. The knife 334 is secured to a slide 336 slidable' in vertical slideways 338 and actuated b a lever 340 pivoted at 342, having at its orward end a slot 344 engaging l'a pin 346 vsecured to the Slide e36. Link als is pivoted to the lever 340 and also to the lower end of ayoke 356 which embraces and is mounted to slide vertically on the cam shaft 88 and a shaft 352 above said cam shaft 88. A cam roll 354 pivotally secured on the yoke 350 engages a cam groove formed in a cam 356 secured to the cam shaft 88 to impart vertical movements to the knife througlnthe mechanism described.. In order to impart desired horizontal movements to the knife, the slideway 338 is secured to a slide 358 mounted to slide on fixed horizontal slideways 360 and actuated by a bell crank cam lever 362, pivoted at 364, provided with a camroll 366 engaging-a cam path in a cam 368 secured to the cam shaft 88, and provided on its other .arm with a' slot 370 which engages a pin 372 secured to the slide 358. V

In the operation of the mechanism, after the knife has been raised and inserted into the carton in the'pocket 322, it is moved forwardly and the side members 18, 20 of the carton are engaged by thefr'ont walls 374 and 37 6 of the pocket 322. e The cooperation of the movement of the knife and carton with the walls 374 andv 376 causes the carton to Vopen up in the manner indicated infull lines at 378 in Fig. 6. As the knife continues to move forwardly, the carton passes out of the pocket 322 through an opening formed between parallel forward extensions 380 and 382 of the walls 374 and 376 and is delivered by the knife into the particular pocket 332 or 335 of either of the bottom sealin mechanisms illustrated in Figs. 2, 6 and 7 or ig. 8, respectively. As previously pointed out, the pocket 332 is arranged' to receive the carton and square it up prior to its delivery onto a form-ing block, where the bottom flap closing and sealing operations areperformed during the intermitnt rotation. of the block andr carton in ac'- ordance with the usual operation of these known bottom sealing mechanisms. The (carton pocket 335 is, as has been stated, adapted to receive the carton, square it up, andsupl,

r -prt it during the intermittent rotation of the spider (see Fig. 8) while the usualbottom flap closing and sealing operations are per# formed. During the opening of the carton the latter assumes the positions successively represented in dotted lines in Fig; 7 at 384 and then that indicated in full lines at 386 in Fig. 7. The knife continues to .move forwardly until the carton is in the position indicated in dottedlines at 388 in Fig. 7 with its side member 18 against the forward wall 390 of the pocket 332. When the carton reaches this position, the right hand portion of its side member 16 springs .under a rear extension 392 of the pocket 332 (see Fig. 7 Thereafter the left hand side wall 394 of the pocket 332 is swung ina clockwise direction, viewing Fig. 7, by the usual form of operating mechanism (not shown) functioning to square up the carton inthe pocket so that it may subsequently be presented to the forming block incorrect and illustration of such details are omitted,v

and for the purposes of the present invention it will be understood that the bottom sealing mechanismdelivers the successive cartons inea condition with their bottom flaps folded to close the bottom of the carton andk sealed.

rom the description thus far it will be observed that the present machine as illustrated herein operates to form cartons having their bottom iaps folded and sealed-to close the bottom of the carton, directly from flat carton blanks in an automatic and highly elficient manner, eliminating handling and other uneconomic manufacturincoperations. r

Whilethe preferred embodiment of the in- Vention has been .herein illustrated and described, it 'is to be understood that the inven" tion may be ,embodied in other forms within thescope of the following claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is 1. In a `machine of the character described, the combination with bottom sealing'mechanism, of means for feeding a flat carton blankV from a bulk supply, vmeans for automatically sealing theside seam of the carton, and means for automatically openingthe sealed carton sealed carton in open position to lsaid flap sealing devices.

3. The combination with mechanism for sealing the bottom of an open carton, of a container for holding a bulk supply' of carton blanks in flat form, and devices for automatically withdrawing successive carton blanks, sealing the side seams thereof, and presenting them in opened condition to the bottom sealing mechanism.

4. The combination `with bottom sealing mechanism for sealing the bottom flaps of a carton, of an automatic feed mechanism for a supply of flat carton blanks, and means for folding the carton blanks, Isealing the side seams and opening the sealed cartons p'rior to their presentation to said bottom sealing mechanism.

5. In a carton forming machine, in combination, carton opening means, including a member adapted to be inserted into the carton and actuating means therefor, means for operating upon carton blanks to fold the same and seal the side seams to form knockdown cartons, and means for feeding the knockdown cartons thus formed to present them to said carton opening means.

6. In a carton forming machine, in combination, a holder for a supply of flat carton blanks, folding and side sealing mechanism,

mechanism for automatically positioning the cartons in the supply in predetermined relation to the folding and side sealing mechanism, carton blank feeding mechanism, and mechanism for opening the knockdown cartons after the side seams have been sealed.

7. In a carton forming machine for use with bottom sealing mechanism, in combinat-ion, carton blank feeding mechanism, folding and side sealing mechanism for operating upon successive blanks to form knockdown cartons, automatically operated carton opening means, and means for feeding the open cartons to present them in operative relation to the bottom Hap closing and sealing mechanism.

8. In a carton forming machine, in combination, mechanism for feeding successive carton blanks from a bulk supply, transferring mechanism for transferring the carton blank to a position in predetermined relation to folding devices, adhesive applying mechanism for applying adhesive to the side sealing tab during such transfer, folding devices for folding down portions of the carton blank to form a knockdown carton and for sealing the side seam, carton opening means including a reciprocating knife member, and means for feeding the knockdown carton to present itZin operative relation to said knife member.

9. In a carton forming machine in combination, a carton receiving pocket, mecnamsm for withdrawing fiat carton blanks from a bulk supply and for folding andy sealing the side seams thereof tok form knockdown cartons, and devices for opening each knockdown carton and transferring it to the aforesaid pocket, said mechanisms and-devices operating in timed relation to one another.'

10. The combination w1th mechanism for sealing the end flaps of a carton, of feedingv In testimony whereof I have signed vmy name to this specification.

STANLEY R. HOWARD. 

